Europe supported by Africa and the Americas: A Prophesy

Comprising of three photographic prints, Leah Gordon’s ‘Kingdom of this World: Triptych’ offers a nuanced perspective on the intertwined histories of slavery, rebellion, abolitionism, seafaring, class struggle and industrialisation throughout the Atlantic world. This photograph is the central print in the triptych. It follows the allegorical tradition of using female figures to personify continents and is based on one of William Blake’s illustrations for John Gabriel Stedman's ‘Narrative of a five years expedition against the revolted Negroes of Surinam’, published in 1796 (a copy of this text is in the Caird Library, PBD4145). Stedman was a soldier in the Dutch military. His text is a condemnatory account of the brutal oppression of enslaved people in the Dutch colony of Suriname. Though Stedman himself is thought to have favoured reform of the slave trade over outright abolition, his book was promoted by abolitionist campaigners, including William Blake, who illustrated the text. Appearing towards the conclusion of the book, Blake’s version of ‘Europe Supported by Africa and America’ (note that his title uses the singular ‘America’, while Gordon’s references ‘the Americas’ in the plural) was intended as a utopian vision of a more equitable relationship between the peoples of the three continents, leaving behind the ‘horrors and cruelties’ of enslavement. However, although intended to suggest equality, the image nevertheless privileges Europe, whose central position forces Africa and America into supporting roles. The gold bands around their upper arms evoke ideas of enslavement and subjugation.

Gordon’s version of the image calls attention to the imbalanced power dynamics in Blake’s original design. Whereas Blake depicted all three continents as youthful figures, Gordon shows Europe as an older woman, giving visual form to the terminology of ‘Old World’ and ‘New World’ which arose with the advent of Western colonialism in the late 16th century. These terms belittled indigenous peoples, suggesting that their histories were irrelevant and that their lands were virgin terrain, ripe for exploitation by European powers convinced of the greater seniority and sophistication of their own culture. Gordon’s photograph thus lays bare the presumption of European superiority that underpins Blake’s image. Yet, as the artist herself points out, her version is also subversive, since Europe’s age suggests frailty and mortality, anticipating an end to European dominance.

The other two images in ‘Kingdom of this World: Triptych’ are ‘Vagabondaj Mawon: Sitadel’ (ZBA9836.1) and ‘Maroon Vagabondage: Blaenavon’ (ZBA9836.3).